


Let me mishandle you

by DarkHyena



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Crying, Dark Billy, Dirty Talk, Emotional Manipulation, Held Down, Humiliation, Kinda, M/M, Mindflayer Billy, Non-Consensual Touching, Possessed Billy, Power Play, Season 3 Spoilers, Sexual Abuse, Soo many petnames, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 13:39:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19724794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHyena/pseuds/DarkHyena
Summary: The words “Sorry we’re closed” where on his tongue as Steve opened the sliding glass panes and went through them to meet whoever it was on the other side of the bar, but the words died in his throat before he had a chance to say them.“Billy?”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo… I hadn't gotten my ass to post anything on here yet, but ever since I saw the trailer to season 3 I have been CRAVING this fic. So I wrote it myself, kinda. 
> 
> Characters belong to Netflix and The Duffer Brothers
> 
> Unbeta'd so feel free to roast my Spelling and grammar
> 
> Find me on Tumblr at AwkwardTerror

Steve startled when he heard movement just outside the shop. Robin had gotten a migraine during the afternoon and had gone home early, so Steve had closed up the ice cream parlor on his own for once. He was just finishing up in the back and the whole mall was supposed to be empty, spare for some security and the odd shop employee closing for the night, but the sound of what definitely seemed to be a person right outside were seeping into the backroom where Steve had been cleaning the last little bits before he could go home.

He wasn’t sure what it was that had spooked him, “ _It’s just a customer that really didn’t get the message or a night guard for christ’s sake, calm down Harrington_ ,” Steve thought to himself. “ _Just ignore them and they’ll fuck off_.”

But something crawled in his gut, and Steve found himself moving to go and check it out anyways.

The words “Sorry we’re closed” where on his tongue as Steve opened the sliding glass panes and went through them to meet whoever it was on the other side of the bar, but the words died in his throat before he had a chance to say them.

“ _Billy?_ ” Steve couldn’t really believe it. What the hell was his high school bully doing in the ice cream shop that Steve had worked at during most of his summer? And more importantly, what was he doing there when said ice cream shop and the mall that it resided in was closed?

But there he was. Billy Hargrove, clad in a black tank top and jeans, standing stock still in the doorway of the establishment. He hadn’t said anything or even moved when Steve had called his name. He just stood completely still. Not even moving his gaze, which was set straight at Steve.

The odd behavior unnerved Steve a little, he felt both a tinge of fear for his own safety and worry for Billy’s. Was he high or something? Or hurt?  
“H-hey man are you okay?”

Still no answer. By that point Steve was getting really worried. He got over to the other side of the counter and walked up to Billy, he even went so far as trying to put a hand on his shoulder.

But before Steve could touch him, Billy’s hand shot out lightning fast and caught his wrist. It took a second for Steve to even react and try to yank his hand free, “Ow dude what the f-“

“ _You_.” The simple statement made Steve stop. “W-what?” The two just stood and stared at each other for a second. Billy’s eyes had been fixed on Steve the entire time, but they had a dullness to them that made Billy seem distant and unresponsive. It was like Billy wasn’t really having eye contact with Steve, but rather just stared at his face.

But suddenly the dullness seemed to melt away and Billy met Steves eyes forreal. Billy gave a slow smile of what seemed to be recognition and the unease that had taken a back seat in Steve’s mind spiked.

“Am I dreaming or is that you Harrington?” The familiar phrase rolled off Billy’s tongue, but lacked the challenge it used to have, now it held a teasing tone that made Steve bristle, yanking and finally getting his hand out of the other’s grip.

“What the fuck are you doing here Hargrove?” Steve took a few steps back, the other man let off a stifling amount of heat and seemed to still be slightly wet, Steve remembered muzzily that Billy had gotten a summer job at the local pool. “ _He must’ve come here straight after work_ ,” Steve thought offhandedly.

The other chuckled at his sharp tone. “Whoa, calm down princess!” -if Billy called him that fucking nickname many more times then Steve was pretty sure he was going to scream- “What if I’m in the mood for some ice cream? I know it’s hard to believe, but everything doesn’t have to be about you, _darling_ ” If Steve didn’t know any better, he’d think Billy’s tone was almost _flirty_.

“Well, in that case, please learn to read because the sign clearly says that we’re fucking closed,” Steve sent a glare in the other’s direction and turned around to go back and finish up so he could go home. He was still feeling really on edge and all he wanted to do was to get the fuck away from the other man.

Steve was stopped by a hand at his hip and Billy used his hold to spin him around to face him again. “ _Hargrove_ -”  
Billy stepped closer to him, uncomfortably close, and Steve tried to back away but ended up backed up against the counter. The cold glass of the ice cream freezer pressed against his back and contrasted with the sticky heat of Billy pressed against his front.

“What if I just missed you, Harrington?” Billy spoke against Steve’s ear, his warm breath sending a shiver down the brunette’s spine. The two were about the same length, but Billy was more muscular and caged Steve against the cold surface behind him. The brunette felt lips against his throat.

Billy Hargrove was kissing his neck.

Steve felt his face heat and pushed with both hands against Billy’s chest, but the other didn’t move an inch. “What the hell dude? Let me go!” He pushed and pounded on the other in hopes of getting him to move. “ _Calm down_.” Billy’s hands left Steve’s hips and grabbed his wrists, leaning more weight onto him and pressing Steve harder against the counter. “OW! Stop it man!” Steve couldn’t help his shriek in pain. Billy held his hands uncomfortably tight and the hard edge of the counter dug into his lower back.

There was a warning scrape of teeth against his neck and Steve’s breath caught in his throat. Billy finally let up and met his eyes again. Steve saw something dark in them, something hungry that made him feel pretty scared and a little bit excited. But the look had an edge to it that Steve didn’t like, something that felt like it was the source of the unease he’d been feeling.

“Look dude I don’t know what’s up with you but I-I’m not gay and I guess I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea but like, uh, please let me go…?” Steve’s voice was bordering on pleading. He was just met with a wolfish grin from Billy. “Cute, princess, really cute.”

At that point Steve was starting to get really scared. Billy was obviously off his tits on something that made him act so weirdly and Steve wasn’t getting through to him with reasoning.

But Billy didn’t seem like he was doped up on anything. Maybe he’d just finally gone completely nuts on toast and had went to find Steve just to mess with him in the most fucked up ways he could think of. Steve didn’t really care which it was or why, his instincts just screamed at him to get the fuck away and he intended to listen to them for once.

Billy returned to mouth wetly at his neck and Steve used all his willpower to relax into it. He let out a shaky breath. His heart was hammering like it wanted out of his ribcage and he did his best to breathe slowly to calm it.

“ _There we go Sweetheart_ ,” Billy crooned against his neck and let go of his wrists to stroke his way down to Steve’s hips. Steve struggled to focus for a second, the intimacy felt pretty damn amazing after being single for almost a year, before he got it together and sprung into action.

Before Billy could get a solid grip on his hips, Steve used all the strength he had to deliver a punch to Billy’s jaw and managed to slide out from between him and the counter. Steve turned on his heel and all but flew over the counter and into the back room.  
“You sneaky little slut!” Steve heard Billy’s enraged yell as he set off through the back door and into the mall’s inner corridors.

The sound of his running steps and loud breathing echoed around him as Steve hurried down the winding corridors. He was heading for the main exit, where a nightguard always were stationed during the mall’s closed hours.

Steve was so close to salvation, he just had two right turns and a door left and then he would be close enough to call for help from the security guard. But suddenly he felt someone grab his collar and in the blink of and eye he’d been all but thrown against a wall, hard enough to make him lose his breath.

Steve struggled to get air into his lungs as he was forced against the wall by Billy, who looked pretty fucking terrifying. His lip was split and his lips were stained slightly, but his blood wasn’t red, it was _black_. Steve saw, to his horror, that not only was Billy’s blood black, there were inky veins climbing up his neck and face on the side that he’d gotten punched on and his eyes were an unnatural shade of blue.

Steve finally managed to get a gulp of oxygen down and a shrill scream of fear tore up his throat but was muffled quickly by one of Billy’s hands over his mouth. The other caged Steves wrists above his head in an iron grip. The scream became a whine and Steve felt tears spring free from his eyes. Billy’s expression in response was sickly sweet. “Aaw baby, don’t worry. I’m not mad at you.” He forced a leg between Steve’s thighs and ground against him, the other couldn’t help but shiver and breathe wetly against Billy’s palm over his mouth.  
“ _You can run, but I’m always gonna catch you_.” Billy kept up the movement and Steve closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head and hysterically trying to speak underneath the other’s hand.

The lazy mouthing on his neck returned and Steve choked on his breath as Billy lapped at the sensitive skin beneath his ear. Billy’s teeth suddenly felt a lot sharper than before and Steve held his breath when he felt them against his jugular. After a second Steve felt them let up and went to breathe out a relieved breath through his nose, but it turned into a cry as Billy sank his teeth into the space between his neck and shoulder, breaking the skin and holding there for a moment. Steve sobbed in pain and renewed his struggling against Billy. The other just held onto him tighter and kept his hand pressed over his mouth to silence his screams.

“Sh sh sh, don’t be scared sweetheart. **_He_ **promised that I’d get to have you all to myself, and I’m gonna take _real_ good care of you…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo… This fic was *supposed* to be a one chapter long one shot… And then I literally got like one(1) comment that wanted me to continue and was like "WELL I BETTER DO THAT THEN", and I did kinda want to continue this down the dark rabbit hole where it was headed...
> 
> So I did, I hope y'all like it. I enjoyed Writing it, even if it did take blood, sweat, and copious amounts of diet coke to write… 
> 
> Characters aren't mine
> 
> Still not beta'd so feel free to roast me for my spelling and grammar

Steve gave a hard shudder in response. “ _'He'?! Who the fuck is 'He'!?_ ” He thought frantically as he strained against Billy’s hold on him. 

At that point he was slick with sweat from fighting and from the unbelievable amount of heat that Billy seemed to let off in waves. It was stifling and Steve breathed heavily, the other man’s hand was still forced hard against his mouth and he was beginning to feel a little lightheaded from trying to breathe through just his nose when he was practically hyperventilating. 

Steve’s situation definitely wasn’t helped by the fact that Billy was still grinding their hips together and sucking bruises into his neck, all whilst murmuring and groaning little praises in that honeyed tone at him.

Steve was really fucking terrified, he was, but the friction of Billy’s leg between his thighs and the wet feeling of his mouth on him felt undeniably good, and mixed with the rush of adrenaline it became a heady mix that made it difficult for Steve to focus on the task at hand.

Billy bit and licked at a spot beneath his ear and Steve choked on a moan as his hips twitched. He froze immediately after, realizing what he’d done. 

His hopes that Billy hadn’t noticed were crushed when he heard the other chuckle against his ear. Billy looked up from Steve’s neck, giving him a knowing look, “You enjoying yourself princess?”

Steve was quick to shake his head as violently as he could and swore at him even if it was all too muffled to make out. The reaction seemed to bring the other man a great amount of amusement. Billy leaned closer to flash a dangerous smile. “Really? Could’ve fooled me there.” He punctuated his words with a slow drag of his hips that had Steve’s eyes fluttering slightly.

The reaction made Billy smirk wickedly, and he began a slow pace of doing it over and over again until Steve was whining low in his throat and leaking into his underwear. 

“You see, Stevie, you think you’ve got everyone fooled with the whole _‘prude little babysitter’_ act, but I’ve heard the _rumors_ . I know that -really- you’re just a little slut that’s _gagging_ for it.” The words, still spoken in the same sweet voice as before against his ear, shocked Steve and he flushed deeply. He was too strung out and exhausted to really fight Billy’s hold on him anymore, but he squirmed as best he could, if so only to prove a point. 

Steve tried to shift away from the hand over his mouth, when that didn’t work, he was suddenly struck with an idea. “ _Time to give the shithead a dose of his own medicine._ ” Steve thought spitefully.

He worked his mouth against the palm of Billy’s hand for a second before tensing up, getting ready to bite down as hard as he could. But before Steve had a chance, the hand slid away and gripped his face hard enough to press his jaws together.

Steve didn’t dare to meet Billy’s eyes. “Don’t even _try it_ princess, _you know I’ll bite back_ ,” Billy growled warningly, dead serious. 

Then the playful glint in his eyes came back, but the grip on the brunette’s face didn’t lessen and Billy looked at Steve with a teasing smile playing on his lips. 

“So, are you going to be a _good boy_ if I let go? Or are you going to scream again?” Billy gave the grip on his chin a little shake, looking almost fondly at Steve. 

Steve immediately tried to shake his head, looking as innocent as possible. The action seemed to satisfy the other.

“Yeah? You gonna be good for me baby?” Billy crooned. A nod from Steve. “You won’t scream?” A shake. 

Billy gave a slow smile as he let go. For a moment Steve just tried to catch his breath and work out the stiffness in his jaw. 

But Steve barely managed to get a few gulps of air down before Billy shot forward and captured his lips in a deep kiss. Steve let out a distressed little sound through his nose and clamped his lips together tightly.

He felt Billy smirk against his mouth and suddenly the hand that had held his jaw was back, but this time to force Steve’s mouth to open. He fought to keep it closed against the pressure and the grip turned painful. 

Fresh tears trickled from Steve’s eyes as the pressure became unbearable. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He knew he couldn’t stand the pain forever and Billy definitely didn’t seem to feel like stopping any time soon.

“Just relax Sweetheart, I promise I’ll be _gentle_ ,” Billy whispered against his closed lips. Steve tired to hold back a sob and looked at Billy helplessly. The black veins had disappeared but his eyes still looked slightly inhuman with that same starved gleam in them as before.

“I’m gonna take _such_ good care of you Stevie… ” 

Billy moved his hand from Steve’s face and into his hair, grabbing a fistful of brown locks and yanking _hard_ , making Steve yelp. The larger man wasted no time in sealing his lips over Steve’s once more, this time shoving his tongue into his mouth before he had a chance to close it. 

Billy moaned crudely into the kiss and rubbed his tongue against the inside of Steve’s mouth messily. Steve tried to wriggle away but the hand in his hair held him in place. The feeling of Billy’s mouth was intoxicating and Steve couldn’t help but mewl into the kiss before he caught himself and swallowed the sounds back down. 

Finally, _finally,_ when Billy leaned back, Steve couldn’t hold back the knee-jerk reaction to cry out. 

“Help me! Help some- _guhh_ ” His voice cut off as Billy grabbed his throat and squeezed. 

He gave Steve a sharp look. “I thought you promised you weren’t going to do _that_ ,” He spoke in a low voice, sounding honestly disappointed and angry. “Weren’t you gonna be a _good boy_ for me, hm?” 

Billy lessened the pressure on his windpipe and Steve struggled to get down air in between sobs. The fear that had simmered under everything else for a while had clawed its way up his throat once more and he tried to shrink further back against the wall, but were stopped by the hold Billy still had on his wrists above his head.

The other man grabbed his chin and forced him to meet his eyes. “ _Weren’t you?_ ” He pushed, almost snarling, clearly expecting an answer. Steve just cried harder. “ _S-stop, please s-stop._ ” 

The tiny plea did make something soften in Billy’s expression. Steve couldn’t tell if it was genuine or mocking at that point. Billy removed his hand from Steve’s neck and stroked his cheek in a way that probably was meant to be soothing. 

“Oh baby, don’t tell me that you’re still scared of me.” He wiped away a tear carefully. “I would never hurt you, you know that right?” It only terrified Steve even more how sincere Billy sounded. 

“You need to relax Stevie, Don’t ma-”

Both of them startled when a loud noise suddenly pierced the air. Steve realised with a sense of euphoria that it was a door further down the corridor that had slammed open. Followed by it were steps moving in their direction. 

Steve gathered the last ounces of strength that he had left in him and bellowed out a shrill “ _HELP!_ ” that bounced off the walls.

Steve heard the steps take off in a sprint towards him and suddenly slid down the wall onto his butt. Steve looked up in confusion and realised that not only had Billy let go of him, he had also disappeared. Completely.

The things that happened after that went by in a blur. One of the night guards had gotten paranoid that he was hearing noises from one of the back corridors and went to check it out, mostly to give himself some peace of mind. 

There, in a heap on the floor, he had found a hysterically crying Steve Harrington. And after trying to calm him down and listen to the confusing story of getting attacked that Steve tried to tell between fits of crying, the guard checked the mall, found nothing, and made the conclusion that the teenager must’ve imagined something and gotten spooked. 

Steve gave up on trying to convince the guard on the third try and let him drive him home, declining when he asked if Steve wanted him to call his parents and lying when he asked if anybody else was home. 

When Steve finally made it inside he quickly locked the door behind him before turning on all the lights in the house. After that he went straight into his parents’ room and burrowed down into their bed, still dressed in his work uniform that was cold and damp with sweat. Steve didn’t care. His parents wouldn’t care, wasn’t _there_ to be able to care, and the idea of sleeping in his own bed, that faced his bedroom window, made Steve shake.

For a long time he just laid there, listening for something, _someone_. But Steve’s nerves were fried and he was worn out from literally having to fight for his life, so soon he fell into a fitful sleep.

That night Steve dreamt of sharp teeth and black blood. 

“ _You can run, but_ _I’m always gonna catch you._ ”

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um… So I was supposed to write this ages ago… and then I didn't! Never Heard that one Before, have you?
> 
> Look, Life happened. Sorry lol.
> 
> Here's two chapters instead of just one as an apology!
> 
> Let me know about Spelling/grammar issues. This bitch *Points at self* does not have a beta.

When Steve woke up he spent a few minutes vaguely wondering when he’d gotten hit by a bus -because that’s what he felt like- before the things that had gone down at the mall the previous night all dawned on him. The memories made bile rise in the back of his throat, and Steve spent a moment just trying not to puke and/or burst out crying. 

It was still morning, and Steve had half a mind to go back to sleep, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep again after everything had caught up to him, so instead he forced himself to call in sick for work, (Like _HELL_ Steve was going to go back to work and sling ice cream like nothing had happened) then he went straight into the closest bathroom to take the longest shower known to man.

Steve all but tore off the dirty sailor suit, but stopped before he could march into the shower and turn it onto the hottest possible temperature. The glance he’d thrown at his naked reflection in the full length bathroom mirror made him freeze in his tracks. 

He didn’t even recognize himself at first. He even felt like his face looked different. 

Bruises varying in severity littered his body in all the places where Billy had grabbed him, held him, _marked_ _him_. 

  
The worst ones were definitely the ones surrounding his neck; countless hickies coupled with the angry bite mark at the junction of his throat - _Steve idly wondered why the fuck that guard didn’t believe him last night when he had a fucking bite mark on his neck as evidence_ \- and a deep bruise circling his pale neck where Billy had choked him. Those combined with the bruises around his wrists and hips made Steve almost fail to recognize his own body, the one before him was someone else’s, someone who’d been through something unspeakable.

He looked like some sick mix of maimed and ravished. His injuries felt less like injuries and more like marks of _ownership._

Steve finally tore his eyes from his own reflection and hurried into the shower, turning it on the hottest setting, but was forced to turn it down after scalding his skin for a few seconds. Steve carefully washed the wound on his throat, letting out a pained hiss. It was the only place where the skin had been broken that deep and dried blood caked the area around it. 

It hurt like a bitch, no doubt about it. 

But the rest of the marks on his neck… They were another story entirely. As Steve smoothed his hands down all the numerous hickeys and scrapes to clean off any sweat or blood his breath caught in a surprised gasp. It didn’t exactly hurt to touch them, when Steve pressed his fingers against them, they _ached_.

  
The sensation sent a shiver down his spine and Steve let out a shaky sigh through his nose. His hands continued down from his neck to clean off any dried in sweat or grime from the night before, but occasionally stopped to press against a bruise, sending thingles of something Steve couldn’t place throughout him.

_It almost felt good._

He couldn’t help but think about the earlier night, even if he wanted to erase it from his memory. Steve had been more scared than ever before in his life, and that included the times he’d had to fight fucking _monsters_. But unlike the times when he’d fought off things from the upside down, Steve had felt a weird kind of excitement in his struggle with Billy. It was like a small part of him had believed the things Billy said to him, had _wanted them_.

That part had been drowned out by the sheer terror he’d felt in the moment that he’d stood face to face with Billy. Or the thing that had become of Billy. But now, when the fear was mostly a low, constant trum under Steve’s skin, that part threatened to swallow him completely. The memory of how Billy had looked at him -with a hunger that rivaled the demo dogs’- filled Steve with an alien feeling of _want_. He brought a hand up and pressed against a deep hickey Billy had made right beneath his ear, letting out a sharp breath as his body twitched. The other’s sticky words went through his head;

_“...I’m gonna take **real** good care of you…” _

_“...you’re just a little slut that’s **gagging** for it… ”_

_“...You gonna be good for me **baby**..?”_

_“...I’m gonna take **such** good care of you Stevie… ”_

Steve was snagged out of his haze at the memory of sharp teeth and black blood, just seconds before the hand that wasn’t worrying his hickeys had managed to get a good grip on his dick. Steve realised that he was half mast just from the mere memories of his _assault_ from the night earlier. 

The realization felt like a bucket of ice down his back and Steve hurried to finish up his washing, this time in freezing cold water. No matter how hard he scrubbed he couldn’t get the ghost of Billy’s touches off his skin, and Steve stepped out of the shower, feeling dirty for an entirely different reason than before. 

Steve hurried back into his room and dressed quickly, it was almost already noon and he hadn’t even made a move to do anything about his situation other than have a shower and… _reflect_ over all the shitty things Billy’s teeth had done to his skin. 

A part of him kind of just wanted to hide out somewhere (maybe under his bed) until everything went away, but he knew he couldn’t. Steve knew that Billy was going to come for him again. And the other was obviously going to start looking for Steve at his own damn house.

After getting dressed, Steve walked straight out the door and sat down in his car, locking himself inside it. He leaned back in the driver’s seat and tried to slow his breathing, it felt like he couldn’t get enough oxygen into his lungs, no matter how deeply he breathed. It calmed him a little to sit in his car, the familiar scent of leather and the locked doors gave him a semblance of safety, even if it wasn’t real. 

_“I need to call Hop, and Dustin and the other kids… They’ll do something… They’ll believe me, right?”_ A queasy sense of paranoia started to creep into Steve’s mind. What if they didn’t believe him? What if they did, and blamed him for it? Maybe they’d think it had been a “normal” fight between him and Billy and that Steve was overreacting? 

Steve shook his head to try and rid himself of the dark thoughts.   
_“Of course they’re going to believe me! What the fuck am I even thinking…_ “

He turned the car on and started the drive over to Dustin’s house, the kid was a genius, he’d know what to do for sure. 

But as Steve could just glimpse the Hendersons’ driveway, he was struck by remembering the fact that Dustin wouldn’t even be home, he was still at that fucking summer camp that he’d talked Steve’s ear off about for weeks. The kid had left literal days earlier and wouldn’t be back for at least two or three weeks! 

Steve swore under his breath and turned around towards the police station. Hopper was a pretty hard headed fucker when it came to believing in supernatural stuff, but Steve knew that the sheriff would believe him. 

At least he hoped that he would.


	4. Chapter 4

“What do you mean ‘he’s not here’!? He’s the fucking Sheriff!” Steve demanded -albeit a little hysterically- at the woman in the reception. She gave him a look that told him that he wasn’t the first person to say those words to her that day, and probably wouldn’t be the last. “Look, kid, Hopper is too busy working actual cases to deal with teen summer drama. “ She must have seen the desperate look in Steve’s eyes, and continued, “If it’s really that important, try asking one of the other officers to radio him.” 

With that Steve spun around and walked straight up to a nearby officer holding a coffee cup. The man shrugged his shoulders at the request. “I’ve been doin’ that all mornin’, the guy’s not responding,” He snorted in light amusement, “he’s got a tendency towards radio silence when he’s knee-deep in sumthin’, we usually get an answer back a few hours later that he’s just fine.” 

Steve fought the urge to scream as he stomped right out of the police station and sat back into his car. He put his head against the steering wheel and tried to think clearly through the new slew of panic that was rising within him. 

He could still contact the other kids right? And Nancy, Nancy and Jonathan would definitely know what to do and would help him. Right?

Steve went to the nearest payphone and quickly fed it some coins and Nancy’s home number -a number he knew by heart- before carefully listening to the signals drone out on the other line. 

“Hello?” A tired voice answered, it was definitely Nancy’s dad. Steve had been so sure that Nancy would pick up that he was caught a little off guard. He scrambled for words. “Uuh-yeah-Hi it’s Steve, can I talk to Nancy?” 

There was a short sigh on the other side. “Sorry kid, she’s not home right now, ya want me to give her a message when she comes back?” 

_“Well fuck, what now!?”_ Steve thought. “What about Mike then? C-can I talk to Mike?” 

Another sigh. “No can do kid, he’s not home either, can I give _him_ a message from you maybe?” 

Steve shook his head before realising that the man on the other side couldn’t see him. “No, uh, it’s fine… Do you know where they are?” 

“No idea frankly,” Nancy’s dad said with a dry chuckle, “ya know how it is during summertime, the kids are high and low and probably about as far away from home as they can possibly be, heh.” 

Steve fisted a hand in his hair to hold back the multiple curses that wanted to spring from his mouth. The phone was silent for a while and Steve thought the money had run out for a second when he suddenly heard the man on the other side clear his throat. “So, uh, can I help you with anything else, young man?”

Steve cleared his own throat before answering with as much casualty as possible, “No, sir, it’s fine. Thanks anyway.” He just had time to hear Nancy’s dad start answering with a similar phrase before the line went dead as the money actually ran out. 

Steve stood still for a while with the receiver hanging limply in his hand. The _fuck_ was he supposed to do now?!

Dustin was basically impossible to reach, and even if Steve did reach him, he would be unable to do much to help anyways.

Hopper was offline and busy with work.

Nancy and Mike were both AWOL. 

That left Steve with the rest of the party and Jonathan. But wherever Mike was, so was probably the rest of the party. Same went with Nancy and Jonathan. So that left him with…? 

_“No one, you’ve got **no one** ,”_ Steve heard a mean little voice in his head whisper and he held back the tears burning behind his eyelids. 

_“Yes I fucking do,”_ He thought back, _“I just need to find them.”_

Steve turned on his car and started going over the places where the party could be in his head. The arcade, the diner, at the Byers’, at the cinema or… _at Starcourt mall_. 

Steve shivered at the thought of returning there, but pacified his nerves with the thought of all the people that would be there at that moment. It was becoming late noon but he knew that the mall would be completely packed with people for a few more hours. 

Steve began his search.

The Party were not at the arcade.  
Or the diner.  
Or the cinema.  
When Steve knocked on the door to Byers’ house, nobody answered. 

“Where the fuck is everyone!?” Steve yelled out loud when he’d tried banging on the Byers’ door a few more times, still with no sign of life coming from inside. He couldn’t help but deliver a kick to the poor door before turning around and going back to his car. 

As he pulled out of the Byers’ driveway, Steve’s fear grew and replaced his anger. He’d been so sure that he would find the kids in one of the usual spots, he had discarded the idea of having to go back to Starcourt almost entirely. But now that quickly loomed as the only option he could think of. 

It was becoming early evening, and whilst there was a few hours of light left, Steve felt himself getting more and more exposed. The shit that had happened the earlier day had happened after dark, and Steve almost felt like the light of day was the only thing stopping Billy from catching him and devouring him whole. 

But even with the idea that as long as it was day and light outside he was safe, Steve felt unprotected. He didn’t have his spiked bat, and lacked both emotional and physical backup. He felt like he needed some kind of weapon at least to be a little less of a _prey_.

Steve then remembered that his dad did actually have a gun in his office, something the man had gotten after believing there had been a burglar at the house a few years earlier.

(In reality, Steve had held a massive party that weekend when his parents where away and Tommy had thought it was absolutely hilarious to see how many golf balls he could shoot onto the neighbors’ lawn. This had resulted in one very shattered window and two very angry parents that Steve very quickly had to come up with a lie to).

But as far as Steve knew. The gun still resided in a metal box in one of his dad’s desk drawers in his office. With bullets and all. 

This made Steve swerve around with his car back towards his own house. He doubted that a gun would actually kill whatever the fuck Billy was, but it might slow him down. And in the situation that Steve was in, that was more than good enough. 

On the way back the thought that Billy literally might be waiting for him back at the house struck him multiple times. But the chance of getting his hands on an actual weapon to protect himself with was too good to pass up. It was still bright outside, and he knew that some of his neighbours had to be home by that hour. 

_“They’ll definitely hear me if anything happens. Billy’s not stupid enough not to realize that, right…?”_

Steve stopped and turned his car off about half a block away and got out. He figured he’d walk the last bit up to the house and check for any signs of Billy before entering it. 

_“If he’s there, I can just run back to my car and leave without him even noticing.”_ It was a calming thought that Steve desperately held onto as he crept closer.

He stayed low behind some bushes as he scouted the front of the house. All windows were dark and everything looked the same as it had when he’d left earlier that day. Steve continued to the back of the house and found nothing weird there either. 

_“I guess that’s the best estimate I’m gonna get”_ He thought, _“even if that means that he most definitely still could be in there… “_

Steve tried his best to squash that thought before it took hold of him and made his way towards the back door, from there he just had to walk inside and through the living room to reach his dad’s office. 

Steve soundlessly unlocked the back door and opened it, more than half expecting to be tackled to the ground as he entered. But the house was silent and unmoving as he started making his way through it. 

The living room looked dead as usual as Steve slipped through it, barely breathing. He finally reached the door to the office and prayed to any god willing to listen that this was going to be one of those times when his dad had forgotten to lock the door before he left. 

Steve felt the handle and had to hold back a cry of joy when he felt that it was unlocked. He opened the door before really stopping to think it through, and for a second of terror Steve was completely sure that Billy would be in there, sitting in his dad's desk chair and smiling wickedly. 

But the office was blissfully empty, and Steve made his way inside and quickly closed and locked the door behind him. The last time he checked, the gunbox had been in the top left drawer of the desk, and he went straight to it.

The telltale look of the metal box had never been more beautiful. Steve could finally breathe a deep breath of relief as he brought the box out and put it on the desk in front of him. The box itself was locked, but Steve knew that. He also knew that the key to the box was somewhere in the office. He’d overheard his dad telling his mom that the same day that the gun was brought into their home.

Steve sat down in the office chair and was about to start looking through the other desk drawers for the key when he suddenly heard something that made his blood run cold.

The sound of the back door opening. 

Steve was frozen where he stood as he heard what was definitely somebody opening the back door - _the door that he had left fucking unlocked_ \- and walking in before slamming it shut hard enough to make the frame shudder.

_“Maybe i-it’s just the neighbors”_ Steve thought, _“who saw someone sneaking in and called the cops, I’m sure it’s just th-”_

_“Daddy’s home!”_

The sound of Billy’s voice felt like a death sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok... So I hope you liked these LONG awaited chapters lol...
> 
> I promise to try and post the next chapter soon! 
> 
> Tbh I'm not entirely sure how I'm gonna end this fic yet… Ideas?


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